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Ashley Smith inquest: Prison supervisor defends cell orders

Michelle Bridgen, seen at Coroners Courts in Toronto Wednesday, was in charge of the unit where Ashley Smith was housed at the Grand Valley prison in Kitchener. She started her testimony Wednesday at the inquest looking into Smith's death at the prison.
(Richard Lautens / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

A former middle manager at a Kitchener prison for women denied claims she failed to follow up on an incident in June 2007 where guards, following directions from a superior, delayed entering Ashley Smith’s cell even though the teen had a tight ligature around her neck and had turned purple.

According to an observation report written by a guard at the Grand Valley prison for women in Kitchener June 19, 2007, Smith was seen around 12:50 p.m. lying on her bed, her face purple, with a tight ligature around her neck, though she was still responsive to staff.

The guard noted in her report that Eric Broadbent, a manager in the prison’s secure unit where Smith was an inmate, directed guards not to enter Smith’s cell to cut off the ligature, as long as the teen was breathing, talking or moving.

But Michelle Bridgen, who was a team leader at the time and supervised the managers in the unit, told Smith’s inquest in Toronto Wednesday that guards were supposed to be looking for signs Smith was in “imminent danger,’’ which included her turning purple or having on a tight ligature.

If those signs were present, guards were to go into her cell immediately to remove the ligatures, Bridgen testified.

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The June 19, 2007, episode ended with Smith handing over the ligatures, but it caused a great deal of controversy, the inquest has heard.

The guard and Broadbent got into a tense exchange afterward because the guard thought the delay was reckless and unsafe, and Broadbent also got into a yelling match with another manager, Janice Sandeson, who agreed with the guard.

Sandeson testified last month that she complained to Bridgen, but there was “no follow-up’’ and “no direction’’ from Bridgen, Julian Roy, a lawyer representing the Smith family at the inquest, told Bridgen Wednesday.

“I can tell you I would have followed up,’’ Bridgen shot back.

Roy told Bridgen that directions to guards that they not enter Smith’s cell when she was still breathing were widely circulating at Grand Valley in the fall of 2007, and “everyone knew this.’’

Bridgen told Roy she disagreed with his statement.

“So if everyone knew this, it was everybody but you?’’ Roy said.

Bridgen replied: “yes.’’

Roy directed Bridgen, who has since retired, to another Grand Valley guard’s observation report dated Oct. 8, 2007, 11 days before Smith tied a ligature and choked herself to death in her segregation cell at the prison.

In that report the guard noted that Smith’s face was slightly purple after she’d tied a ligature around her throat, and guards couldn’t see Smith because she’d covered herself with a mattress pad, the inquest heard Wednesday.

Broadbent ordered guards not to enter until he got to Smith’s cell, showed up some minutes later, then set up a video camera on a tripod to record the incident.

Roy told Bridgen it was “extreme’’ and “inappropriate’’ that precious minutes were ticking by for Smith while Broadbent was setting up the camera and tripod.

Bridgen testified “we have an obligation’’ to record the cell entries.

Was the video recording more or less important than attending to Smith, Roy asked her.

“About the same,’’ Bridgen replied.

Roy asked her if that was true, and Bridgen paused for several seconds, then replied “no.’’

“Thank you for retracting that,’’ Roy told Bridgen.

Earlier Wednesday, Bridgen told coroner’s counsel Jocelyn Speyer that if Smith had a ligature tied loosely around her neck there was no need to rush into the teen’s cell and retrieve it.

Letting Smith keep the ligature and hand it over when she wanted helped give her a sense of control, Bridgen testified.

Bridgen also said that Smith sometimes “played possum,’’ appearing to be in distress in her cell with a ligature on, but tackling and wrestling with guards once they entered her cell, Bridgen said, adding she saw Smith do this a few times.

Bridgen also testified that use-of-force guidelines and a commissioner’s directive from Corrections Canada meant that guards couldn’t just enter Smith’s cell indiscriminately, because that was a violation of Smith’s rights.

Guards had to have a plan before going in, and be ready to document and justify why they entered Smith’s cell with force, Bridgen told the inquest.

Bridgen received a 20-day suspension from Corrections Canada in connection with Smith’s death. The May 2008 punishment, reduced last year to 10 days by an adjudicator who deemed the initial penalty “excessive,” flowed from a lengthy disciplinary investigation and report by Corrections Canada.

That probe found that Bridgen, along with deputy warden Joanna Pauline and Broadbent, gave “explicit direction’’ to guards and other middle managers at the Kitchener women’s prison not to enter Smith’s cell as long as she was breathing.

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